Chapter 16: Best Friends
"I'm a businessman." The B1 battle droid 3B3-888 pointed the massive KnKr-1 doomseeker cannon at a trio of clone troopers.
"I'm in the business of kicking ass." The clones aimed their DC-15A rifles at the talkative droid. "And business is booming."
Guns still trained on their opponent, the clones turned to look at each other, confused at what they were hearing coming from the vocabulator of a battle droid. The clones were also surprised at the massive size of the weapon the droid held.
"I'm looking to expand my business."
One of the clones started to say something, and 3B3-888 took down all three with one blast from the massive gun.
"I guess I overextended my business, there aren't many asses to kick anymore." There was nothing left but red goo and a few shards of armor where the clones had been.
"Was that really necessary?" the security battle droid SSA-719 clutched an E-60R rocket launcher.
"Absolutely. I vomited words to stupefy those idiots and they never even shot at me. The last thing those self-absorbed clones expect is a clever battle droid."
"You kept talking even after they were dead."
"It was funny. You're just mad you didn't get to use that rocket launcher." An AT-RT swiftly approached the two droids. "You can take care of that one," 3B3-888 said. SSA-719 fired the rocket launcher and destroyed the hostile recon walker. The driver survived and tried to crawl away. SSA-719 went over and crushed the clone's neck with his metal foot.
The two battle droids went to rejoin the larger group, which was currently chasing a large mass of Abridon Nationalist infantry. The droids' battle group leader, a command droid by the name of KLO-657, led the pursuit from an armored assault tank.
"The clones have been dealt with," SSA-719 walked alongside KLO-657's tank.
"Excellent."
A Nationalist fired at KLO-657 and missed. The armored assault tank retaliated with its primary cannon. Although encased in a shell of orange armor, the infantry trooper was completely annihilated by the heavy firepower. Some of the soldier's nearby comrades were hit by splash damage. Many of them were injured and unable to move, allowing battle droid infantry to simply walk up and shoot them.
"The Nationalists are becoming more of a nuisance than the clone troopers," KLO-657 commented.
"Its fortunate that their accuracy is so poor," SSA-719 replied before tossing a V-1 thermal detonator at the retreating Nationalists. The grenade caught only one trooper, but did comically propel him high into the air.
The Nationalists had to both run and shoot, which gave the droid army the advantage. The droids' frontline pursuers consisted of battle droids, super battle droids, and plasma battle droids. With their great height, the plasma droids had to merely walk to keep pace with the other battle droids, which were trotting along at a decent click but were by no means running at full speed. The Nationalists were wearing from all the fighting, and it was not difficult for the droids to keep up with them.
The chase lasted another minute before the native fighters fled into a large corporate building. The defenders barricaded the doors and shot at any droids that dared to approach, prompting a momentary standoff.
"Commander, they're holding up inside that building. They claim there are civilians inside but we're not sure if that statement is true," a B2 super battle droid informed KLO-657.
The Nationalist soldiers were trying to pick off battle droids from windows on upper floors. The plasma battle droids were durable enough to absorb the hits, but the B1s and B2s scattered for cover. The plasma droids returned fire, blowing out several windows.
SSA-719 saw a flurry of blaster bolts coming from a certain window, aimed his E-60R rocket launcher, and fired. After the dust died down from the explosion, no more attacks came from that location.
"Deploy the flame battle droids, we'll burn them all out," KLO-657 ordered. Several dozen flame battle droids set fire to the building and within fifteen minutes, the Nationalists came out and surrendered. It was revealed that the Nationalists had been lying about civilians being in the building. Once the local warriors were in binders and hauled away in MUTs, firefighter battle droids were deployed to extinguish the blaze before it spread to the rest of the city.
A few blocks away OOM-9 was meeting Whorm Loathsom in a more secure area of the city. Unafraid of enemy snipers as beetle troopers patrolled the rooftops and sides of buildings, the two Separatist leaders met each other in the streets rather than inside a command center or similar structure.
"Ah, General OOM-9. It is a pleasure to meet you face-to-face." Whorm Loathsom was a male Kerkoiden who was affiliated with the Retail Caucus, a conglomerate that had joined the Confederacy and was most noted for their contribution of LR-57 combat droids into the Separatist Droid Army's ranks. Four Kerkoiden soldiers guarded Loathsom as he conversed with OOM-9.
"The pleasure is mine General Loathsom." Two security battle droids protected OOM-9. The battle droid general was noticeable taller than his blue-skinned alien colleague.
"How has the fighting been going on this side of the planet?" Loathsom inquired.
"When the droids shoot, the clones duck. When the clones shoot, the droids duck. When the Nationalists shoot, everyone ducks."
"Yes, they are a rather crude bunch aren't they? I hear you've been having some difficulty." A squad consisting of six dwarf spider droids marched past the generals.
"Yes, a Jedi has been eluding my forces for some time," OOM-9 omitted the part where he was personally defeated in combat.
"I have the same problem. I've chased a pair of Jedi all the way here from the other side of the planet."
"They must be trying to regroup with each other."
"It would be a dangerous combination."
"It will also allow us to wipe them out all at once."
"Agreed. But we must work quickly, we cannot allow them to escape the planet."
"There are still a few clone troops left. I do not believe the Jedi will abandon them just yet," OOM-9 theorized.
"The clones may retreat as well," Loathsom countered.
"I do not believe so. They are currently too disorganized to conduct a timely retreat. But we must make use of the time we have. There are still enemy frigates unaccounted for."
"Such ships could evacuate large groups quickly."
"It is peculiar that we have yet to encounter them since the initial space battle. We should double starfighter patrols until they're found."
"I have some probe droids in reserve that could be set about the more forested areas of the planet," Whorm Loathsom added. It was probable the ships had been hidden in the wilderness, waiting until they were summoned. A great deal of the fighting on Abridon had occurred in or near metropolitan areas, leaving few Separatist patrols to root out enemies in the more rural areas of the planet.
The dwarf spider droids patrolling the streets twisted around and started firing. Loathsom and OOM-9's conversation died as they turned to see a Republic troop transport speeding down the road. The large vehicle passed by the two generals without incident. A single Trade Federation speeder platform chased after the RTT.
Piloting the speeder bike was Major Ashley Katen. The RTT opened its side door, allowing clone troopers to shoot at the Separatist biker. Katen dodged the shots and pulled out her commando SE-14 blaster pistol and immediately nailed three clone troopers. Their dead bodies fell off the speeding transport and rolled around onto the paved street. Other clones took their place and continued to attack.
The RTT was coming up on KLO-657's group. The command droid's armored assault tank opened fire on the incoming enemy transport. When it came in close range, the plasma battle droids started to attack the vessel. 3B3-888 and SSA-719 jumped in with their heavy weapons and finally took the armored troop transport down.
Clone troopers started to spill out of the wrecked RTT and started engaging the droid forces. Katen kept going in at full speed and ran over a few clones with her speeder. One of the plasma battle droids stepped on a clone as if he were a bug.
As the droids and clones fought, Loathsom, OOM-9, and their bodyguards made their way over to the battle by way of a droid transport carrier. Most would have thought it foolish for two generals to enter a battle side-by-side, for it would be disastrous for their army if they were both killed. The droid army held a numerical advantage, and the two CIS leaders were certain they wouldn't be picked off by a few overwhelmed clone troopers.
Two Jedi emerged from the downed RTT and started to assist the clone troopers against the droid forces. Loathsom and OOM-9 hadn't known that there were Jedi aboard the transport, but neither the Jedi nor the clones knew of their high rank. To the clones' eyes, the two generals didn't even register amidst the unending sea of enemies spewing lasers at them.
Not wanting to get shot amidst the large firefight, Major Katen pulled alongside the two CIS generals.
"There! Those are the Jedi I've been hunting!" General Loathsom pointed.
The clone troopers and battle droids were cutting each other down in a one-to-one ratio, which boded well for the numerically superior Confederates. The two Jedi cut a path through the battle droids and broke off from the main battle. It looked like they were trying to get away.
"Major, don't let them escape," OOM-9 commanded.
"Just leave it to me!" Katen revved up the speeder and took off after the Jedi. Whorm Loathsom was confused at Katen's enthusiasm for her given assignment, but turned his attention back to the fighting.
The two Jedi ran into a building and Katen dismounted her bike and followed them in. As she ran through the doors, Major Katen activated her electrostaff but saw that the Jedi had gone into a turbolift. She ran down the hall and took another turbolift. Though she wasn't sure where the Jedi were going, she had a hunch they'd choose something obvious like the rooftop. Of course, if they chose the basement, it would be Katen that looked foolish.
Before OOM-9 could order some reinforcements to accompany Katen, a small army of AT-RTs and clone troopers swiftly approached the battle site. Both CIS generals stood their ground against the upcoming enemy force. OOM-9 opened up with his custom E-5 and Loathsom attacked with his pistol. The clones had approached fast and were severely disorganized. OOM-9 noticed the reason; they were already being pursued by a larger Separatist battle group.
When the flame battle droids from OOM-9's assembly acquired their new targets the frontline clones were brought down in seconds. Caught between two droid armies with no cover, the clones were doing poorly. 3B3-888 and SSA-719 kept picking off AT-RTs with their heavy weapons, leaving KLO-657's AAT to bombard the clone infantry with its heavy cannon. The clones tried to stay out of the armored assault tank's line of fire, but really had nowhere to go.
A red GAT lead the battle droids on the other side. The ground armored tank fired its cannons into the clone crowd, not even bothering to use its missiles.
From a longer range, nearby dwarf spider droid patrols helped cut out the remaining AT-RTs, which had trouble maneuvering through the mess of their clone trooper allies.
As the clones started to thin out, the two droid groups risked shooting each other. Both sides brought up their droidekas that used their shields to absorb any friendly fire. A LAAT/i gunship swooped in to rescue the clones, but was destroyed by the GAT's missiles when it tried to land. B1 battle droids began throwing thermal detonators over the destroyer droids in front of them. The clones kept firing into the shielded droids. It was a scenario that had been played out several times before, and the battle droids were accustomed to the movements. The clones were caught in a combination of grenades and droideka fire. Destruction, desperation and the stench of death filled the street. To the clones' credit, they fought until the last man.
When the fighting ended, the red GAT pulled alongside OOM-9 and stopped. Commander Zako exited out of the GAT. Having been riding around all day in a tank, he was dressed in his officer uniform rather than his combat suit.
"Ah, the stink of victory," Karl Zako inhaled deeply.
"What?" OOM-9 was confused.
"Decaying clone corpses."
OOM-9 rubbed his forehead in vexation. "I'm just glad I don't have olfactory sensors."
"You sure you never want to give smells a try? I'm sure Quartz could give you an upgrade."
"No thank you. The concept of smell disgusts me."
"Eh," Zako made an upward gesture with his hands. "Your loss," Zako joked. Then the commander sneezed.
"See, the smell of burning armor is bad for you," OOM-9 stated.
"Worse for the clones."
"They're dead, they have nothing to worry about anymore."
The two Jedi had taken the turbolift to the rooftop as Katen had guessed.
"The roof? You Jedi are so predictable," Katen stated when she approached the two Force users. She removed her combat helmet, revealing her spiky blond hair. While good head protection, the helmet would slightly restrict her vision in a melee duel. A sharp wind sliced over the rooftop, blowing Katen's short hair.
"Why bother running? Why do you punks like heights so much? We could have just as easily fought on the streets below." Major Katen twirled her electrostaff around to show off her talents to her opponents.
"Now you don't have any droids to help you."
"I don't need their help to get rid of you," Katen pointed the tip of her electrostaff at the Jedi. "But your clones needed you, and you abandoned them." Katen shook her head. "What pitiful commanders. But then, the Republic seems to make all their Jedi military officers. No wonder the GAR looks like they're always running around with their thumbs up their asses."
Both of the Jedi were Rodians, one female and one male. The Jedi activated their lightsabers. The male had a yellow lightsaber and the female had an orange one. The Jedi made overly dramatic fighting stances, daring the Confederate to attack.
Major Katen ran up and managed to get in-between the two Jedi. She easily knocked the male Rodian to the side and then focused on the female. The Jedi parried her first three strikes, and then Katen went for her head. The Rodian Jedi ducked and Katen immediately swiped at her feet. The Jedi hopped up to avoid the electrostaff and then Katen tried to strike her in the chest, which the Jedi was barely able to block.
The other Jedi had gotten up and started coming at Katen. She swiftly kicked the female Rodian in the shin and turned to face her charging opponent. Ashley Katen was easily able to block the Rodian's wide swing. The CIS officer made several strikes at the Jedi's feet, and finally grabbed him by the antenna when he wasn't expecting it.
The Jedi squealed in pain as Katen tried to rip off his antenna. The other Jedi approached, forcing Katen to let her victim go so she could address the other Rodian.
Once the Jedi duo had regained their composure, they broke off from the fight and started running. They leaped off the roof towards another building. The pair crashed through a window and were inside. In an adrenaline-fueled rush, Katen leaped after them.
Ashley made the jump, but just barely. "Stop running you cowards!" Katen chased them out the room and down a hallway. The Jedi pooled their strength together and Force pushed Katen, sending her tumbling into a wall. The Rodians took the opportunity to run rather than finish the CIS officer's life.
Major Katen got back up and started chasing them again. The Rodians went for a turbolift again, but Katen caught up before the door opened, forcing the Rodians to start running again. The Force-users chose to take the stairs up.
The Separatist human chased the Republic Rodians up several flights of stairs. "Just stand and fight. It will be easier on all of us," Katen heaved. The Jedi didn't reply, choosing to focus on running up the stairs.
After running up twelve flights of stairs, the group made it to the rooftop. Katen caught up to the Jedi once again, but this time they stood their ground.
The Jedi were clearly winded, so Katen immediately rushed in and started swiping at them with her electrostaff. After a few seconds of fighting it was clear that the Separatist officer was in much better physical condition, as she still had energy to spare.
The Jedi's moves were tired and sloppy. Katen gave both Rodians a whap on the head with her staff, pulled her SE-14 commando pistol, and shot them both in the face. Just as she was victorious, a pair of LAAT/i gunships appeared over the building.
Katen figured the two gunships were there to pick up the Jedi, but upon seeing them dead, they didn't leave. One landed and the roof and allowed its clones to disembark with the other gunship fired at Katen to provide cover.
"Go go go!" a clone sergeant urged his squad on. The sergeant was armed with a DC-15S blaster while his troopers were equipped with DC-15A rifles. Once the clones were away they set up defensive positions to protect the second gunship as it landed to drop off its troops. The second clone squad was identical to the first.
Two clone troopers guarded the doorway leading downstairs. It seemed the clones' new mission was to exact revenge for the fallen Jedi. The clones were slowly and carefully closing in on Katen's position while the gunships circled around in the air, trying to get a shot at her from in the sky. Ashley Katen knew she wouldn't be able to fight her way out of this one and it looked like the clones weren't interested in taking prisoners.
With the airborne gunships trying to blast her, Katen couldn't break cover to shoot at the clones. All she could do was move about to different cover to prevent the gunships from blasting her. She had to be quick with her movements, or the clone troopers were nail her.
Suddenly, three of the advancing clones were overcome by red blaster fire. A blue STAP swung around. Lieutenant KJZ-8267 was riding it. The agile craft turned around and killed two more clones in a strafe run. The clones halted their advance and a few of them turned to shoot at the STAP. The two LAAT/i gunships also tried to blast the STAP, but it was too fast.
Katen saw her chance and chucked a V-1 thermal detonator, but the clones got out of the way. The grenade did manage to deprive one of the clones of his leg. Katen drew her commando pistol and managed to shoot three clones before return fire forced her to get back to cover.
KJZ-8267 still commanded the gunships' attention. Now the pilot droid focused his efforts on the air units. He fired the STAP's cannons and managed to blast off one of the gunship's ball turrets. The other ball turrets tried to cut him out of the sky, but the battle droid skillfully evaded the green lasers.
Most of the clone troopers now their attention on the elusive STAP. Katen activated her electrostaff and barreled down on the soldiers who dared ignore her for even a second. She swatted one upside the head, breaking his neck. She took down two more before one grabbed the midsection of her electrostaff and held on.
"Let go!" Katen demanded as she tried to shake the clone trooper off.
One of the gunships made contact with the STAP's left engine, and the valuable part was completely removed from the aerial platform. KJZ-8267 steered the crippled craft toward one of the gunships and jumped onto the Republic craft's cockpit. The abandoned STAP fell away to the city below.
The gunship swerved around, trying to shake the battle droid off. The abrasive maneuvers forced the other gunship to get out of the way. Inside the cockpit the two clone pilots watched as the droid put a TB-47 time bomb on the top of the cockpit. KJZ-8267 set the timer for two seconds and jumped off just as the gunship blew up.
The explosion knocked Katen and her clone rival off the ledge of the building. Instead of falling to their deaths, the two slid down a diagonal set of windows. If it had not been for the building's unique architecture, they would have plummeted to their death. KJZ-8267 dove down the slanted glass after Katen. The remaining gunship followed after them.
Katen tried to grab a hold of something, but simply slid across the smooth glass surface. The sliding clone did the same with no more success.
As he drew close, KJZ-8267 reached his hand out to Katen, who tried to grab it but the two were just barely too far apart. Just as Katen went over the edge KJZ-8267 seized her hand. The droid grabbed onto the edge with his free hand, which was made of metal rather than the glass they had been sliding on, his metal fingers had a death grip on the building. With a scream of terror, the clone slid off the edge to his death.
The gunship dropped altitude and leveled off to where KJZ-8267 and Katen were dangling. The pilot battle droid tried to move but couldn't do anything with Katen so completely dependant on him.
"Holding on is the best I can do," KJZ-8267 admitted.
Tears welled up in Katen's eyes as she smiled; she knew it was the end for them. "You should have let me drop. Now we're both screwed."
"You know I wouldn't do that."
The LAAT/i gunship took aim; the clone pilots were savoring their moment of victory.
Two beetle troopers came down from the sky and landed on the gunship, throwing it off balance and ruining its aim as it fired.
A heavy beetle piloted by Z23-Y75 flew just beneath Katen and KJZ-8267. The two dropped safely onto the flying bug and then took off towards the gunship. "My hero!" Katen kissed Z23-Y75 on the side of the head.
"Okay, I see how it is," KJZ-8267 said in a sarcastic tone.
"I didn't forget you," Katen turned around and kissed KJZ-8267 on the snout.
"Blah, human germs!" the battle droid whined.
"That's what you get for rescuing me."
The heavy beetle latched onto the flailing gunship with the two other kag beetles. The bugs' mandibles chewed through the metal. Once the ship was stripped of enough parts, the beetles flew off and let the LAAT/i fall out of the sky. The gunship hit the streets below with a loud thud.
"There are still clones on the roof," KJZ-8267 informed Z23-Y75. The three beetles flew back up the building. The remaining clones on the roof started shooting down at them. The beetles bobbed and weaved, avoided the blue blaster bolts. Armed with E-5 blasters, the droid pilots riding the beetles shot back, one of them managing to hit a clone.
The beetles flew past the building and then came down on the clones. One of the beetles managed to crush a clone as it landed. Katen and KJZ-8267 got off the heavy beetle while the other riders stayed mounted up. One of the beetles caught a clone trooper in its mandibles and sliced the poor soldier in half.
KJZ-8267 ran for Katen's abandoned electrostaff. The pilot droid picked it up and activated it. The pilot battle droid wielded the staff as well as Katen would, and dispatched two clones with it. Z23-Y75 fired his E-6 blaster rifle and killed the final two clone troopers.
Ashley gathered up the two lightsabers, to give as gifts to OOM-9. OOM-9 had no interest in collecting fallen Jedi's lightsabers, as General Grievous did; and Katen knew OOM-9 would believe her story on how she best two Jedi at once, the evidence was more for her benefit as she could barely believe her own accomplishment.
The clone that had been sheared in half by a kag beetle was still alive. KJZ-8267 and Katen walked over to him. The soldier made several gurgling noises and what sounded like the word 'clanker.' Upon hearing the assumed insult, KJZ-8267 stabbed the clone in the throat with the electrostaff.
The super battle droid 8EX had made an important discovery while out on patrol. The B2 battle droid and his squad had discovered Bultar Swan. "Target acquired, downloading instructions," the droid declared in a deep voice. 8EX's squad consisted of battle droids and super battle droids with two dwarf spider droids.
The female Jedi was with a squad of nine clone troopers. Once they realized the droids had spotted them they immediately opened fire. The droids outnumbered the clones two to one but Swan kept the playing field level by constantly redirecting blaster shots with her lightsaber.
8EX tried to resolve the problem by firing his wrist rockets at the Jedi. While Swan evaded the rockets, the splash damage knocked some of the clones off balance, allowing the other battle droids to blast them.
Four hunter-seeker droids received 8EX's emergency signal and flew in to help. The airborne droids uncurled into attack mode and started firing down at the small Republic squad.
8EX depleted his supply of wrist rockets, and opted to provide a steady stream of blaster fire at the clones furthest away from Swan, to maximize the chance that the Jedi wouldn't redirect them.
Once the clones were finally cut down, Bultar Swan turned to run. 8EX and his squad fired at the Jedi's backside, but she appeared to have eyes in the back of her head, as she knew just the right time to dodge out of the way of a laser blast.
A NR-N99 tank droid cut off Swan's retreat. The command droid EEK-176 was riding on one of the tread covers. "I've been looking for you." EEK-176 fired the commando SE-14 blaster pistol gripped in his right hand.
In EEK-176's left hand was a ZK-II war-axe. The command droid swung at the Jedi but didn't make contact. Bultar Swan kept away from EEK-176 and concentrated and blocking laser fire coming from the hunter-seekers hovering overhead.
The hunter-seekers kept Swan corralled in a tiny circle, allowing EEK-176 to close in. The command droid swung the axe, connecting with the lightsaber. The two kept their weapons pushed against each other, in a contest to see who was stronger. EEK-176 was winning.
Swan broke off and ran into an alley, blaster bolts nipping at her heels. EEK-176 led the droid infantry in after her while the hunter-seekers flew over the area and the tank droid drove around the buildings.
When Bultar Swan reached the next street she was greeted by a new group of dwarf spider droids and the hunter-seekers from before. The Jedi noticed a manhole cover in the middle of the street, used the Force to lift it up and ran for it. EEK-176 fired his pistol after her but missed as she dived into the sewer.
"She's escaping," 8EX declared.
"We'll see about that," EEK-176 motioned for one of the B1s to drop a thermal detonator down the hole. The resulting explosion did not fill EEK-176 with any confidence. The battle droid was sure that the Jedi had escaped unharmed.
"Should we go in after her?" 8EX asked.
"No. She's already gone. And fighting a Jedi in such close quarters is not preferable." EEK-176 wasn't sure what to do next. The central control computers of the Scrapyard and Magna Musai provided EEK-176 with no useful strategies for following the Jedi. Even when OOM-9 was contacted no solution was conceived. Bultar Swan had escaped—again. Her ability to survive so many encounters was starting to wear on EEK-176's circuits. There was the larger task of policing the city and rooting out Nationalist soldiers, and EEK-176 sent out again to perform his original task before he was interrupted by Swan's presence.
The long day had given way to dusk but the tireless droid army still scoured the streets for signs of enemy resistance. However, the enemy needed sleep, which allowed OOM-9 to ditch his leadership duties for a time. OOM-9 rode a STAP-2 to the city's courthouse.
The city's courthouse had been converted into a CIS headquarters, as it currently was not operating as it was originally intended. The basement had been transformed into a dungeon for housing captured clone troopers. In charge of the dungeon was Dr. Gatling Quartz, and Dr. Gatling Quartz was not a man of a purely scientific mind. He also had imagination and creativity, as was evidenced by the horrific acts of torture he was coming up with.
Quartz had one clone strung up by his own intestines. Another had had his face ripped off and was left to be stung by the pain of being exposed to the air. One had merely been hanging upside down for days on end, though slits were cut on his ears to allow the blood to drain out. The torture techniques had no real basis in reason or science, but Quartz did enjoy the horrific butchery of it all. He did not even feel any guilt from any of the suffering he wrought, as no one in the Confederacy considered clone troopers to be sentient beings worthy of empathy or compassion. They were abominations to be destroyed, and Quartz would have received a medal had the going-ons of the room been made public.
Quartz's LEP servant droid looked out of place amidst all the horror. The little assistant droid was busy going around administering various toxins to certain clone troopers.
General OOM-9 entered the basement. "Here," OOM-9 handed the Skakoan the two lightsabers Katen had given him earlier. "Do with them what you please."
"Thank you General."
"But first, Doctor, you're going to have to abandon your toys for the night. I require my upgrades now." After being personally beaten in battle, OOM-9 thought it was time to improve his combat output.
"Oh course General." The Skakoan fiddled with his pressure suit. "I wouldn't dream of keeping you waiting."
"Your sarcasm is not appreciated."
"What? No, no sarcasm. None was intended General." Quartz held up his hands in dismay of the miscommunication. "The upgrade will take some time. Several hours, if you can be away from your troops for that long."
"Yes, I am aware of that. Commander EEK-176 will be taking over my command duties for the time being."
"I assume you've called a shuttle to take us back to the fleet?"
"Yes, it will be here in twenty minutes."
"Good, then I have some time to finish up."
"So, how goes the torture?" OOM-9 asked casually. The change in OOM-9's demeanor was sudden and surprised the Skakoan. A moment earlier Quartz was worried he'd offended his boss, now the droid was speaking to him as if they were old friends.
"Many of these experiments are meant to be performed over a long period of time. So it won't matter if I'm gone for a while. The clones grow surprisingly resistant to old techniques. The Republic is training them to endure aggressive interrogations. But it varies from clone to clone, surprisingly they are diverse, at least in their ability to withstand trauma. I'm not sure why some are superior to others; the determining factor is probably an individual's combat experience. Or some clones are put together better than others."
"Not all Republic factories may spit out high-quality clones," OOM-9 guessed.
Elsewhere in the city, the CIS had commandeered the city's civic center for its own use, primarily as a barracks. Ashley Katen had claimed a ballroom and programmed a placid sounding techno song to play on the loudspeaker system.
"Oh Eighty-kins, come dance with me," Katen cooed as she grabbed 3B3-888 and forced the B1 battle droid to dance with her. SSA-719 and KJZ-8267 were glad she hadn't snatched up one of them. While the droids didn't need sleep, they did need to recharge from time to time.
Zako walked into the ballroom and was met with the strange site.
"I require reinforcements," 3B3-888 pleaded and KJZ-8267 and SSA-719 pushed Zako towards the dancing duo. The battle droid let the reluctant Zako cut in and was suddenly free from the obligation of dance.
"I've never seen you so happy before, what the hell is wrong with you?"
"I killed two Jedi in a duel all by myself, what did you do today?" Katen purred.
"Well, I haven't killed any Jedi."
"OOM-9 was pleased with my work and gave us tonight and tomorrow off. So you're going to change into something nice and take me out tonight."
"Do I have to?"
"Yes. Oh, and Melissa also has time off and is coming with us. This war has cut into my leisure time and I'm not going to let you worm your way out of this opportunity to make me happy."
"I don't know about that. This planet doesn't seem to have much, it won't be like Evanescence back on Zakkudos," Karl said, referring to the city where they first met back on their home planet.
"We're going to have fun whether you like it or not!"
"Fine, Miss Fussy-britches."
"And since we're on a contested planet, OOM-9 said we had to be escorted. 3B3-888, you're coming with us."
"Why me?" the B1 lamented while SSA-719 and KJZ-8267 laughed at his misfortune.
"Hey, you two stop laughing or I'll bring you along too," Ashley threatened. SSA-719 and KJZ-8267 immediately shut up.
Melissa Sledge entered the room.
"Where have you been hiding all day?" Katen said accusingly. "I could have used some help earlier."
"What? I was helping coordinate ground operations."
Zako eyed the officer. "She looks awfully happy to me."
"Yes, well I just got back from the chiropractor."
"What? An approved chiropractors here?" Katen's eyes widened.
"Yeah, Commander Vulpus got him here. He arrived a few hours ago."
"Where is he?"
"Room 209."
"He's in the building?"
"Yep."
Katen and Zako rushed over to room 209. A trusted chiropractor for CIS officers was rare.
Once the chiropractor was finished with Zako, 3B3-888 met with the Commander. "Ah, I feel like a million credits!"
"Sir, I really don't think you're worth that much."
"It's just an expression, 3B3-888."
"I'm next!" Ashley gleefully declared as she went in the room. The 8th Fleet lacked enough organics to warrant a full time chiropractor and it was hard to find a proof positive chiropractor friendly enough to the CIS to guarantee that the officers wouldn't get their necks snapped while being adjusted.
Afterwards, the three humans and battle droid set out to have some fun in the dead of night.
Karl Zako wore a collared blue shirt and black tie with a black coat with black pants and shoes. A black top hat was perched upon his shaved head and a monocle was shoved in his left eye socket. He didn't need the ancient sight-corrector to see; he just thought it looked cool. He also walked with a black cane with a bronze handle.
Ashley Katen was encased in a dark purple dress. She wore dark purple heels and a choker around her neck and a little too much eyeliner.
Melissa Sledge wore a tiny black miniskirt with a tight, shiny, blue vest made of a rubber-like material. Her feet had been crammed into a pair of black high heels.
The three humans looked flashy and highly noticeable amid the chaos and depression of the rest of the city streets.
"Let's go to a strip club," Melissa Sledge suggested.
"Is that really necessary?" 3B3-888 asked. "You organics are disgusting enough with your clothes on."
"You see…organics have certain needs," Zako started to explain to the droid.
"Not your organics have needs speech again. I just don't understand. Why don't you organic meatbags rationalize procreation?"
"Organics are very irrational creatures, especially when its come to procreation."
"It'll be fun," Sledge promised.
"Can't I go on patrol with the others?" 3B3-888 pleaded.
"What? We're heading to a strip club and you're worried that this night won't end in a firefight?" Zako twirled his cane around.
"Yes, I remember last time," 3B3-888 said.
The small party chose a club called Overload and approached. After the humans brandished their armed B1 battle droid, the doorman immediately let them in.
The interior of the club was soaked in alternating blue, red, and green lights. Katen could feel the vibration of the music in her feet. "I'm going to lose my hearing."
"What?" Zako didn't catch what she said.
Surprisingly, Overload had a high level of diversity in its strippers despite the planet being populated primarily by humans. A Zeltron, a Rodian, a Nautolan, a Togruta, the obligatory Twi'lek, and of course a few humans as well.
Several of the patrons gave 3B3-888 nasty looks, but all turned away if the battle droid got too close. The small CIS group went over to the bar and ordered some food.
Sledge stared at the questionable swill that was put in front of her.
"Stop looking at it, it's going to give you nightmares," Zako said.
"This isn't food. It's not even pseudo-food. This slop is a war crime. Give me a drink," she ordered the bartender. After taking a sip she immediately spit it out. "Blah, What is this sludge? I ordered a drink, not this garbage. If I wanted garbage I would have gone swimming in the sewer. Are you listening to me? I may just kill you," Sledge threatened the bartender.
"Someone please tell me those dancers are slaves, they can't be getting paid to wobble around like a bunch of wounded womp rats," Katen looked over at the show.
"And you can do better?" Zako countered.
"You know I can." Katen pulled off her dress and stripped down to her tight fitting undergarments, got up on stage and started dancing. "Easy, just like fighting."
The club's dancers expressed their irritation of the usurper and a Rodian bouncer came over. Zako blocked his way. "Back off," he poked the end of his cane into the bouncer's chest. The bouncer activated his stun baton and 3B3-888 unhooked the E-5 blaster attached to his backpack.
"Get lost." Clearly aggravated, but not wanting to be shot, the bouncer backed off.
"What idiot hires a scrawny Rodian as a bouncer?" Zako asked.
"Someone who already has me as a bouncer," a gigantic Chagrian came up.
"Your size just makes you an easier target," 3B3-888 warned. The Chagrian looked like he was about to tackle the droid, but then backed away as the Rodian bouncer had done before him.
A WA-7 service droid accidentally bumped into 3B3-888's back. The battle droid slowly and deliberately turned around.
"Sorry sir."
3B3-888 backhanded the waitress droid and it crashed to the floor. The entire club seemed to stop and take notice for a moment, before going back to business.
"Watch where you're going, servant drone. Next time I'll splatter your circuits all over the floor."
"Yes sir." The WA-7 droid got back up.
"Piece of scrap," 3B3-888 stated as the droid wheeled away.
"Angry much?" Sledge called over from the bar. "We're rubbing off on you 3B3-888."
"You alright?" Zako asked the battle droid.
"That piece of garbage wouldn't have bumped into an organic customer. Not even service droids give us B1s any respect."
"You've been around me and the others for too long. Remember, not many in the galaxy think much of battle droids."
"I remember. I just don't want to take any of that crap from a service droid."
"You could always blast it. There's nothing anyone can do to stop us. We hold the power here."
"Negative. I'll leave it to its miserable fate. Being a slave to these disgusting pus bags seems like a worse fate than being blasted by me."
"Suit yourself. We always have the option of messing with it later."
Zako turned his attention to the dancers, but noticed an unexpected patron. A clone trooper in plain clothes. Zako drew a SE-14 pistol from inside his coat and opened fire. 3B3-888 joined in and managed to get a headshot on the clone. "Why are there clones in the strip club? This section of the city was supposed to be secure!" Zako complained.
Two more clones appeared from out of the crowd, pulled out previously concealed DC-17 hand blasters, and started shooting. Panic-stricken patrons spilled all over the place and smashed into each other trying to get away from the firefight.
3B3-888 was shot in the torso, but wasn't even fazed. The battle droid unleashed blaster bolts all over the club, striking down one of the clones. The other flipped over a table to use as cover but Zako and 3B3-888 shot it to pieces, nailing the clone as he knelt behind it.
"You!" Zako pointed at the bartender. "You've been harboring fugitives! By the power granted me by the Confederacy of Independent Systems, I'm putting you under arrest."
Emboldened by the fight, the Rodian stripper made a move against Katen, but was laid out by a single punch in the face. "What is it with Rodians lately?" Katen cracked her knuckles.
"Okay, who's next? It's been awhile since I've trashed a club. This is going to be fun," Katen looked around. She saw the Chagrian bouncer, who upon realized he was being targeted, ran like a scared youngling.
"It's already over," Sledge sighed. "How boring." She smashed her glass on the floor just for the sake of violence.
3B3-888 noticed the WA-7 still milling about despite the carnage that had taken place. "Why not?" the B1 battle droid shot the mechanical waitress. There was nothing left of the WA-7 but scrap plating and burning circuitry.
"Feel better?" Zako asked.
"Yes, I do."
EEK-176 arrived with ground reinforcements and took the bartender, owner, bouncers, and any patrons they could round up into custody. EEK-176 contacted OOM-9 and told the general what his human subordinates were up to.
After a few minutes a Sheathipede shuttle landed in front of the strip club. OOM-9 exited out from the shuttle's ramp, followed by a few B1 battle droid bodyguards.
"Your upgrades are complete General?" EEK-176 asked.
"Yes. Dr. Quartz was very efficient; he does not give himself enough credit." An amusing remark, given the Skakoan's hubris. "We'll have to get you the upgrades next Commander."
EEK-176 knew OOM-9 was hiding something from him. The battle droid general had arrived in a very timely fashion, as if expecting something to happen. "OOM-9, you orchestrated this whole thing. You never really meant to give them a day off. You were using them to flush out the Jedi," EEK-176 figured it out.
"That is correct Commander."
"Are we really that predictable?" Zako asked.
"Yes, you are. I've been around you anti-social humans for a decade. But I wouldn't even need that much time to figure out that you, Ashley and Melissa don't do well in strip clubs. I remember last time…"
"Cut us some slack. We didn't start it this time. There were clones in there."
"Yes, you are correct. Your actions were completely appropriate this time. It is unfortunate that you failed to attract the Jedi's attention."
"I don't think a Jedi's going to be hanging around a strip club," Melissa Sledge added.
"I don't know." Zako rubbed his chin. "She could pass as a stripper, so if she wanted to hide from us… a strip club would be a good hiding place because no one would think a Jedi would be there."
"That was my reasoning," OOM-9 stated.
"Unless that's what she wanted us to think, which is why she wasn't there."
"Calm down Karl, you're going to overload your tiny human brain."
"Ha Ha, your very funny OOM-9." Zako blinked, and came up with a rebuttal. "Hey. Technically my brain's larger than yours."
"Yet so inefficient, your species must be embarrassed to be so slow witted."
"Yes, it's true. Cursed am I to be a lowly human," Karl Zako pretended to feel sorry for himself. "Okay, I understand you knew we'd be violent if we went to a club. But how did you know we'd even go to one on our time off? It's not like you ordered us to go."
"I calculated that enough time had passed since you went to the last one."
"I feel so used," Melissa Sledge said.
"Congratulations on being useful," EEK-176 replied.
"Do we still get the day off?" Ashley was hopeful.
"Actually, I have something different for you three today."
The humans were confused, but all was explained back at the courthouse turned command center.
Despite the destructive fighting, the Battle of Abridon had gone as well as could be expected, but the Confederacy still needed a more positive media image. OOM-9 wanted the three human officers to help him improve the droid army's image in the galaxy. A peculiar task during conquest, but the fighting on Abridon was all but extinguished. There wasn't anything particularly meaningful for OOM-9's officers to do, other than search for Jedi, but that could be left to others.
The historically oriented Zako was the first to come up with an idea.
"Posters."
"What?" Sledge said.
"Isn't that a little low tech?" Katen criticized.
"They're cheap. You can put them everywhere. As long as you don't put too much text on them the ignorant masses will pay attention to them. You must convey your message with images that demonize the enemy and make you look good."
"That will increase enlistment?" OOM-9 asked. The Confederacy always needed more organic soldiers in its armies. The CIS had plenty of professional, lifetime soldiers, but it was difficult to attract civilians to service when the part-timers knew they were going to be sent against the Jedi Order and an army of clones created for fighting.
Zako came up with two idyllic poster featuring OOM-9. It featured OOM-9 pointing at the viewer and read 'I want you, for the Separatist Army.' One version had OOM-9 wearing a black top hat and the other didn't.
"Now think. Which one would an organic find more appealing?" Zako asked OOM-9.
"The one with the top hat?"
"Precisely. Why is that?"
"To make me more relatable to organics."
"Very good. Your understanding of organic meatbags has improved."
"I don't think that's a good thing," Melissa butted in.
"Grievous gives clothing to some of his MagnaGuards, I don't think it has the same effect."
"Don't listen to that gearhead, General. What you need is a pinup girl. The lure of a hot piece of ass will inspire many youths to enlist," Ashley cut in.
"I think you're correct Major," OOM-9 agreed.
Katen smirked at Zako, knowing she won.
"I will use you and Captain Sledge."
"What?" Katen was stunned. "That's not what I meant."
"Ha!" Zako laughed.
Ashley and Melissa were fitted into CIS officer uniforms that were two sizes too small, in order to accentuate their feminine features.
"It's too tight, I can't move," Ashley Katen whined.
"I can't breathe," Melissa Sledge gasped.
Dr. Quartz called OOM-9.
"What is it Doctor?"
"The clones finally gave me a descent piece of intelligence."
"And what is this intelligence you speak of? I wasn't aware that clone troopers had intelligence," OOM-9 joked.
"The name of the Jedi that's been eluding you. It's Bultar Swan."
"Thank you for the information Doctor." OOM-9 would have rather had her location than her name.
OOM-9's little band of media miscreants finished up their work. Several posters were chosen to be used and were sent to be copied and distributed.
"On to our next task," OOM-9 said.
"Please, can we go fight the Republic now?" Ashley asked.
"That's the problem. Their presence on the planet has been reduced to nothing. We need to find a way to draw out Bultar Swan."
The planning session was interrupted when OOM-8 called OOM-9 and told the general about another new addition to the 8th Fleet that had just arrived, a Commerce Guild destroyer named Khassez.
"Too bad another capital ship won't solve our problem," Ashley Katen said.
OOM-9 thought up another way to draw Swan out of hiding. He was going to create a big parade of droids, with himself at the front. If he showcased himself around the city long enough, Swan might try to strike at him.
An enormous army was quickly assembled, which was easy to accomplish since the fighting had died down so much and many CIS units were waiting in reserve.
B1 battle droid infantry, STAPs, AATs, PACs, and MTTs started a march around the city. At the head of the procession was OOM-9 himself, poking out the top of an AAT, as he usually did.
EEK-176 commanded a tiny fleet of MAFs that stayed nearby in case OOM-9's ground troops came under assault. Zako, Katen, and Sledge commanded a small, ground force to assist OOM-9's when needed.
The first half hour of parading around had yielded nothing. The city was vacant save for other Separatist patrols and a few scattered civilians that dared to venture out of the safety of the buildings.
Eventually OOM-9's army was brought to a halt, but not by a Jedi, or clone troopers, or Abridon Nationalists. It was a collection of protestors demanding the eviction of the droid and clone armies from their world.
"Get out of the way," OOM-9 commanded the crowd.
The protestors chattered and yelled, and OOM-9 could not make out what any one individual was saying. But their inaction spoke for them.
OOM-9's tank fired a warning shot. The protestors scattered and ran away in fear, except for one individual.
The protestor stood his ground. The armored assault tank started to turn to the right but the protestor moved in front of it again. The AAT moved back slightly. OOM-9 clicked his metal fingers against the side of the AAT's hatch as a physical sign of his annoyance. "Get out of the way," OOM-9 repeated.
"No," the solitary human stated.
"You mistake my patience with mercy."
"I don't care. You have no right to invade our planet and control it by force."
"We were summoned here by the people of this planet. Go argue with them, it would be dangerous to do so with me."
"Our people will solve our own problems. We-"
"I grow tired of your inane blathering human. Forward," OOM-9 ordered his tank driver.
The armored assault tank started ahead on its path, but the protestor stood his ground and wouldn't move. The tank stopped and turned slightly to the left to move around the protestor.
The brave human ran over and got in the tank's way again. The AAT turned right to pass but the protestor continued to bar the way.
OOM-9 ordered the tank to back up. The protestor still stood his ground, eyeing the command battle droid perched at the top of the tank. A swift moment of quiet intensity passed.
"Run him over." OOM-9's AAT dashed forward, knocking the human over. After the tank passed, OOM-9 looked back at the grounded mortal. He wasn't moving much; it appeared to OOM-9 that the blow from the tank had snapped the human's spine. "Keep moving," the tank line resumed its march.
"Stupid human." OOM-9 didn't understand how that pacifist idiot was of the same species as the violent Katen, Sledge, and Zako.
The battle droid infantry took no notice of the injured man as they marched over him.
Even after the droid army had passed, no one lifted a finger to help the broken man, and he died alone on the street.
Showboating around the city wasn't working, so OOM-9 contacted his officers for new ideas on how to draw Bultar Swan out.
"It's not as if we could tear the city apart looking for her," EEK-176 said.
"Maybe we should do just that," the always-violent Katen declared. "We could use the E-STAPs and bomb the city into dust."
"We'd have to move the civilians out of the city first," Zako stated.
"She'd easily sneak out with the civilians," EEK-176 added.
"Then we're stuck with our current plan," OOM-9 resigned himself from the conversation.
OOM-9's extravagant parade around the city had yielded no results. The battle droid general was called to a meeting with General Loathsom and Commander Vulpus, and thus ended his procession of doom.
OOM-9 and Loathsom arrived by way of AATs. Commander Vulpus flew in on his purple Ginivex-class starfighter. The three military officers were supposed to be receiving a transmission from Count Dooku, but they had yet to be contacted.
"I hear your fleet has acquired another vessel," Vulpus said to OOM-9 as they waited.
"That is correct, Commander."
"And I have lost a ship, but have a surviving captain with nothing to command. I've reviewed your file, you've had experience with Captain Sledge."
"Correct again."
"I'll transfer her and her surviving crew to your command, if you would like."
"Yes, that is acceptable. Do you require something in return?"
"No. Knowing she will be put to use is good enough for me."
"She can be a handful huh?"
Vulpus cleared his throat. "Sometimes, yes. She becomes overenthusiastic at times."
OOM-9 studied the contents of his datapad. The droid general was reviewing the CIS policy of aggressive deterrence: the CIS would actively attack, invade, and conquer Republic worlds in order to lessen attacks on Separatist aligned planets. The official policy was nothing more than Dooku's excuse to destroy the Republic, and it was becoming more apparent to leaders on both sides that that was his original goal all along. OOM-9 surmised that the strategy wasn't working as he felt that his army was constantly playing defense in this war.
OOM-9 was well aware that his forces were sent on reactive defensive missions rather than proactive invasive missions, such as those taken on by General Grievous. OOM-9's personal guess was that the whole policy of aggressive deterrence was just an excuse to let Grievous rampage around the galaxy. OOM-9 didn't care about the civilian hardship of this policy; he just wanted a piece of the action.
OOM-9 assumed he had already proven himself to the higher-ups during his successful invasion and occupation of Naboo. OOM-9 was very skilled at conquering and policing a native population; a task that General Grievous performed with inelegance as the cyborg general preferred to decimate and eradicate the local population as the means of winning. OOM-9 predicted that he could subjugate a Republic loyal population to become an effective slave labor force, which would be more productive than a mass of charred corpses, which General Grievous produced in an endless amount. Perhaps claiming Abridon was just the image boost he needed. Although Dooku must have held OOM-9 in enough high regard to assign him to Abridon in the first place.
A beeping signal from the holographic projected alerted the Confederates that their leader was about to make contact. A few seconds later Count Dooku's holographic projection finally appeared.
"Abridon has been taken with a minimum loss of life. I expected nothing less from the Confederacy's greatest military minds. Reinforcements are being sent to maintain order on the planet. The three of you have more important assignments to attend to."
"One Jedi still eludes us," OOM-9 spoke up. "We're searching for her now."
"The battle has already been won. A single Jedi cannot change what has transpired here. I am pleased with your work, the loss of Abridon will be an enormous physiological defeat for the Republic. Secessionists on other contested planets will begin to rise up now that they now they can win."
OOM-9 received a transmission from EEK-176. "I've been informed that a Jedi has led a clone attack force right to our front door," OOM-9 told the others.
"Excellent. I'll let you three get to work," Count Dooku's holographic image faded away. OOM-9 and Loathsom went to the building's entrance while Vulpus returned to his waiting fighter.
A lone Jedi led a small force of clone troopers to the base of the civic center. It was an army composed entirely of infantry, with no vehicles whatsoever. EEK-176's MAFs were still and in sky and landed to deploy battle droids. Zako, Katen, and Sledge led a large ground of ground units mostly composed of battle droids, super battle droids, destroyer droids, dwarf spider droids, plasma battle droids, and LR-57 combat droids.
"Perhaps my parade was successful," OOM-9 observed.
Z23-Y75 guarded the front of the building on his heavy kag beetle. "Of course General. They're clones, it takes them a while to figure things out," Z23-Y75 said as OOM-9 stood alongside his heavy beetle.
The Jedi in charge of the clone troopers was foolish; he put his army right in the middle of the street with no cover whatsoever. The clones were quickly surrounded on all sides. The droids outnumbered them twenty-five to one.
One of the clones fired a Merr-Sonn PLX rocket launcher at the tank Zako was riding in. The blue missile missed the armored assault tank completely.
"What was that?" Katen demanded. "Can you see nothing in that helmet?"
"You couldn't hit the broad side of an MTT," Zako taunted the clone. The two CIS officers cackled manically at the clone, who fired again, hitting the tank this time.
The tank shut down. Sledge pointed her E-60R rocket launcher at the clone with the PLX and blew him into tiny, bloody little pieces. "Yeah! That's how we do it in the CIS bitch!" A clone fired upon Sledge, forcing her to duck. Zako and a group of pilot battle droids exited out of the broken tank and started attacking the clone on foot.
OOM-9 stood at the front of the building, not participating in the battle. The battle droid general saw that there was indeed a human Jedi, wielding green lightsaber. A closer look revealed that the Jedi was a male, and thus was not Bultar Swan, as OOM-9 had hoped.
OOM-9 turned to Whorm Loathsom. "That is not the Jedi I've been hunting."
"Your subordinate killed the two I was after," the Kerkoiden said. "It is astounding that this one was gone unnoticed until this point."
"These Jedi are everywhere."
Dr. Gatling Quartz also left the building, hoping to see OOM-9's upgrades put to use. "Perhaps you could entice the Jedi to one-on-one combat," Quartz messed with his pressure suit.
"If the Jedi even lasts that long," OOM-9 replied gesturing towards the carnage spread out before them.
EEK-176 and SSA-719 were both wielding E-8 heavy projectile launchers while KJZ-8267 used a RD-4 radiation launcher. The droid trio stayed in a tight group and cut a huge hole in the clones' line.
Two droidekas rolled through the opening and started blasting clones every which way. No clone could even stay alive long enough to retaliate.
"Fall back! Fall back!" The clones had had enough, but had nowhere to run.
The droids finished off the clone troopers, and only the Jedi remained. OOM-9 ordered a cease-fire. After the droids stopped, the Jedi continued and cut a battle droid in half. 8EX was right next to the droid that had been chopped up, and backed away from the Jedi by several paces.
"That was a mistake," OOM-9 warned the human Jedi.
"Oh, was it now?"
"You versus me, human. My droids will stay out of the fight."
The Jedi looked confused. "You think you can take me on do you? Well, lets see what you got clanker."
OOM-9 grabbed two ZK-II war-axes and walked down the stairs to the street. OOM-9 activated the axes and started twirling his wrists, turning them into spinning blades of death.
OOM-9 slowly approached the Jedi, who seemed uncertain of how to deal with what he was seeing.
The Jedi lunged and made contact with the spinning axes, and almost had his lightsaber knocked out of his hand. The Jedi backed up and OOM-9 charged.
The Jedi rolled out of the way and came up to strike at OOM-9's side.
OOM-9 easily repelled him and came up with a right swipe, followed by a left, both of which the Jedi blocked, with some difficulty. It was clear to everyone that OOM-9 was physically stronger.
OOM-9 rotated his right hand and swiped again, the Jedi's block almost cost him his lightsaber. OOM-9 struck with the left axe, this time the Jedi evaded instead of making contact. OOM-9 started slashing, and the Jedi continually backed away.
The Jedi was soon being boxed against a line of droids, and flipped over OOM-9 to get more room again.
The central control computers aboard the Scrapyard and Magna Musai coordinated the attacks of the battle droids, effectively enabling them to see through each other's eyes. The battle droids and super battle droids that surrounded OOM-9 gave the droid general the perfect readout of the battle. Able to see attacks and movements from multiple angles, coupled with his superior mechanical reaction time, OOM-9 was able to block and parry every move the Jedi made.
OOM-9 secretly relayed instructions for 8EX for fire on the Jedi when the opportunity arose.
8EX saw a break in the Jedi's defenses and fired his tri-shot, puncturing the Jedi in the back. The warrior slumped to his knees and OOM-9 beheaded his opponent with a final finishing strike. A fountain of blood spurted from where the human's head used to be. OOM-9 was surprised that the Jedi had taken his word that his droids wouldn't interfere in the fight.
A nearby manhole popped up, propelled several dozen meters into the air. The cap came crashing down, spinning in the street as the Jedi Guardian, Bultar Swan, emerged from the sewer.
OOM-9 turned and instantly recognized his intended prey. "Ah, the great Bultar Swan, we've been waiting for you. You've kept your fellow Jedi waiting too long, I'm afraid," OOM-9 motioned over to where the decapitated corpse lay.
"So you know my name now droid? May I ask what is your number?"
"I see no reason to give my name to someone whose about to die."
Zako, Katen, and Sledge approached Bultar Swan from behind. The Jedi jerked around and activated her lightsaber, brandishing the glowing green blade at her would-be attackers.
"Whoa! You stink!" Zako exclaimed.
"Couldn't you have showered before coming out to meet your death," Katen held her nose.
Rather than make a smart remark to the Jedi, Sledge opted to fire her E-60R rocket launcher at Swan. The Jedi Guardian back flipped out of the way as the missile crashed into the ground.
As Swan landed, OOM-9 rushed in to finish her quickly. The droid did not want to give the Jedi another chance to escape from him.
With the strength of the Force behind her, Swan burst forth as OOM-9 sliced at her. The wily Jedi ran right into the crowd of surrounding battle droids. OOM-9 chased after her.
Rather than cutting large swathes of the droids apart, Bultar Swan merely zigzagged through them. Leaving the droids intact slowed down OOM-9's pursuit of her, as he also had to maneuver around them. The battle droids themselves were slow to target Swan and rarely fired, trying to avoid accidentally hitting comrades. Bultar Swan had turned the droids' superior numbers against them.
A Pelta frigate and six V-19 Torrent fighters roared toward their location.
"Their escape craft!" EEK-176 exclaimed. "Take it down!"
Vulpus' fighter and two Vulture droids swooped in and blasted two Torrents immediately. Then the fighters on both sides broke formation to chase each other around the city's buildings.
A MTT came up the street, firing on the Pelta frigate. Many of the droid infantry that littered the street also joined in on attacking the transport. Vulpus cut down another Torrent; his Ginivex cut through the sky with blinding speed, allowing him to approach and overcome another enemy fighter. His two Vulture droid wingman also took down their opponents.
The three CIS fighters resumed formation and started attacking the Pelta frigate, prompting the ship to retreat, leaving Bultar Swan behind. Vulpus and his two Vulture droid starfighters followed the fleeing frigate.
Once the surrounding airspace was deprived of CIS aircraft, a Nu-class attack shuttle swooped in low, spraying the area with its medium and light laser cannons before landing. Bultar Swan called on the Force and bolted toward the waiting craft.
"The frigate was a diversion," SSA-719 fired at the shuttle.
OOM-9 was hot on Swan's tail but the Jedi reached the shuttle before the command droid could get her. The ramp closed and OOM-9 stopped dead in his tracks, not daring to try anything so stupid as to try to jump onto the outer hull of the shuttle. Catching Swan was not worth such an enormous risk.
Various B1 battle droids and super battle droids hammered away at the ship with small-arms fire but it took off without sustaining any real damage.
As OOM-9 watched the ship escape, Dr. Quartz went up to him. "So, how were the combat upgrades?"
"It could use some work, my hands nearly fell off," OOM-9 slowly spun around his right hand. "I require maintenance or they will fall off."
"Did you really need assistance against that Jedi?"
"No. I wanted to see if I could lie to him. It is surprising he accepted a promise made by an enemy. The Jedi are more foolish than I thought, which gives us yet another advantage."
"The Jedi will learn as the war progresses. Just as the clones slowly become more resistant to torture techniques as the Republic learns what to expect from us."
"But we will always be two steps ahead of them. And they're running out of Jedi and clone troopers. Once the Republic resorts to using more natural-born organics this war is going to end very quickly."
A few surviving Torrent and gunship fighters joined Swan's shuttle as it fled from the planet. None of the fighters had hyperdrives, and Swan doubted that there were any hyperspace rings around. The fighters weren't escaping with her; they were just escorting her until the shuttle got away.
The Nu shuttle and its escorts exited the planet's atmosphere to the sea of stars beyond. Unfortunately for Bultar Swan, the beauty of the stars was marred by a horde of Separatist starships.
"There's the blockade," the shuttle's pilot said.
Onboard the Scrapyard, Commander OOM-8 had been notified that Bultar Swan was onboard the shuttle.
"Focus all fire on the shuttle, don't let it get away."
The powerful quad lasers fired at the shuttle, but the fighters flew interference. One of the Torrent fighters was hit and destroyed, a shot that was meant for Swan's shuttle.
Another laser blast got through and did make contact. "We're hit. Shields down," the clone pilot told Bultar Swan.
The Nu attack shuttle flew close to the Scrapyard's hull as it past by, to make it a difficult target for the turbolasers. A squad of Vulture droid starfighters was unleashed to solve the problem. The remaining Torrent and gunship fighter turned around to buy the shuttle some time.
The droid starfighters broke formation, three of them still heading towards the shuttle. There was nothing the Torrent or gunship fighter could do, they had their hands full with the starfighters that were chasing them around.
The three Vultures approached at top speed, easily closing in on the slower shuttle. The Nu shuttle entered lightspeed, leaving the droid fighters shooting at blank space.
Without hyperspace rings, the two remaining Republic fighters had no hope of escape and hailed the droid control ship to surrender.
OOM-8 has not happy with his failure. The only ship that happened to slip through his blockade of Abridon just happened to be carrying a Jedi. Bultar Swan may not be dead, but at least she was expelled from Abridon.
Commander OOM-8 thought about having the Vulture droids finish off the last two Republic fighters, but decided against it. The command battle droid thought of a worse fate, he was going to deliver those pilots to Dr. Quartz's dungeon.